For the past ten (10) years or so, Valley East has been commemorating Remembrance Day on the last Sunday of October. This year the tradition will continue on Sunday, October 29 at 2:00 p.m. at the Valley East Recreation Centre.

Joan Payne, one of the organizers of the event recalls with pride the many impressive services of the past. “The actual service was really quite impressive in the past. Service clubs participated in their own small way to pay tribute to those comrades, who by sea, by land and in the air, laid down their lives for sovereign and country. The most touching of all the services was the presentation by the Girl Guides of Canada from Hanmer to the Veterans in Attendance, of cards containing various messages of thanks and gratefulness for their freedom which they and we still enjoy this day.”

Payne, who along with her husband Harold, and Joyce Hartman are the chairpersons of the organizing committee, have decided to forgo the “pomp and circumstance” of the past and hold a much smaller, simpler service this year. There were many reasons for their decision, but the declining attendance at past services and the amount of work it takes to organize a larger event were two big factors.

Therefore, at 2 p.m. Sunday, October 29, residents are being asked to pause for a few moments at the cenotaph at the Recreation Centre for a wreath laying, the Last Post, Reveille and the National Anthem.

“If you can,” asks Joan Payne, “please attend and honour those who have fallen for their country and to thank them for the peace and freedom that we enjoy as Canadians.”

Payne also expressed appreciation to, “The War Pensioners of Canada, Legion Branches, the Polish Combatants and Korean Veterans for the dedication and support over the years in making these services so memorable. Thanks also to the various cadet units and their bands for helping us to remember. Also many thanks to anyone I have omitted and who participated in any small way.”